Section 17. PFC Thomas A. Cooney Memorial Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) Private First Class Thomas A. Cooney of the United States Army Corps of Engineers was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action in France on October 20, 1944.
(2) PFC Cooney was born on April 28, 1917, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cooney of Cambria County.
(3) PFC Cooney and his three brothers were raised on a farm outside the Borough of Lilly, Cambria County.
(4) While serving in the European Theater of Operations on October 20, 1944, PFC Cooney encountered heavy sniper and machine gun fire as he and his fellow engineers bravely cleared mines along a strategically important road in France.
(5) PFC Cooney, who had volunteered for the mine removal mission, continued his sweep in the face of enemy observation and direct hostile fire.
(6) Having sought cover as ordered, PFC Cooney was later killed in action along with three other engineers when a delayed-action mine detonated.
(b) Change of name.--The bridge on that portion of Township Route 431/436, Cooney Road, over U.S. Route 22 in Munster Township, Cambria County, is hereby renamed the PFC Thomas A. Cooney Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and maintain appropriate signs which shall display the name of the bridge designated in subsection (b).